Bloody Sunday

Bloody Sunday dramatises the events of 30 January 1972 in Derry, Northern Ireland, when a peaceful protest march organised by the civil rights movement ended with British soldiers opening fire on unarmed civilians. Thirteen demonstrators were killed and more than a dozen wounded, an event that became known as Bloody Sunday and that intensified the conflict in Northern Ireland for decades afterwards. The film centres on local politician Ivan Cooper, a committed advocate of non-violent protest who tries to keep the march peaceful and negotiates with unionist authorities and British security forces as the situation around him deteriorates.

The film is directed by Paul Greengrass, who also wrote the screenplay, and it was his first theatrical feature, released in 2002 ahead of The Bourne Supremacy, United 93 and later films. James Nesbitt plays Ivan Cooper, with Allan Gildea, Gerard Crossan and Mary Moulds among the large ensemble, which runs to twenty-eight credited cast members and includes Tim Pigott-Smith as Major General Ford.

Produced by Mark Redhead with backing from Irish, British and television interests, it was made for around three million dollars. The film holds a critics' rating of 7.9 out of 10 from 106 reviews, alongside audience scores of 7 out of 10 on IMDb and 7.2 out of 10 on TMDB, indicating stronger approval from reviewers than from general viewers, though both are positive.